USG champions inclusion with plans for new LGBTQ center

By: Sydnee Brown

The only school in the Big Ten without an LGBTQ center, members of Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government are working to change that. 

Last semester, in order to convey their support for both the LGBTQ community and Ohio State’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, USG members approved a pair of resolutions to recognize LGBTQ History Month and National Coming Out Day, as well as the creation of an LGBTQ center. 

Lulu Montes, a social work senator and co-sponsor of the bill, said that the data in the 2020 LGBTQ+ Campus Climate Report has guided their planning and the creation of legislation for LGBTQ students. With this information, they were able to identify students' needs and made a plan to support these students. 

Gabe Myers, an on-campus living area senator and fellow co-sponsor, said this report has laid the foundation for conversations with university officials to determine why this center is necessary and put the project in motion. 

“We’ve had some meetings with the Office of Administration and Planning,” Myers said. As of March, plans are also in place to discuss potential spaces to house the center, and administration officials hope to have something confirmed by the end of the academic year. 

“In terms of location, we do have some potential locations,” Myers said. “I do know that when we talked to the leaders of LGBT student organizations on campus, a lot of them wanted the center to be in close proximity to the Ohio Union.”

Although an LGBTQ center would provide new social spaces, counselors, and easy access to sexual and mental health resources, Montes said current LGBTQ students have been relying on the Multicultural Center– a division of Student Life –  in the Ohio Union for this support. 

Resources were strained even further when Jeff Perkins, LGBTQ intercultural specialist, left in October to pursue another job. 

“We’ve had our only full-time staff member who’s dedicated to LGBTQ initiatives leave,” Montes said. “So we have no one overseeing. There’s someone stepping in on his behalf, but there’s not a full-time member who’s a specialist for LGBTQ initiatives. And the fact that we only have one, it speaks volumes.” 

For LGBTQ History Month, the Multicultural Center held panel discussions and events collaborating with other student organizations, Montes said she would like to see the Office of Diversity and Inclusion play a larger role in these initiatives and the center moving forward. 

Robert Decatur, director of the Morrill Scholarship Program, stated in an email that they plan to sponsor more LGBTQ+ focused programming, continue staff training on implicit bias, and hold lectures and panels focused on gender identity and sexual orientation through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Dialogue and Discussion Series on Diversity.  

“Our goal is to contribute to the development of a campus culture that transcends mere tolerance to a point of acknowledgment, acceptance and equality,” Decatur stated in an email.

In a December 2014 report, the Multicultural Center, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the College of Social Work, detailed responses from LGBTQ students and staff and made recommendations about how to improve support and policy. According to a 2020 LGBTQ+ Campus Climate Report, some of these suggestions were put into effect, while others were not. 

“Every other Big Ten school has this resource and has had these resources for years,” Myers said. “As such a large school that loves to pride itself on being a leader in the Big Ten and higher education, in this area, we’ve been lacking for so long. The hope is that these resolutions will kind of push the university in a direction where we’re trying to actually be a leader instead of just saying we are a leader.”

Montes said that having a centralized location for LGBTQ students is both impactful and powerful; it shows that students' needs are seen, heard, and cared for.

She also said while the project opens doors for future leaders to promote further LGBTQ initiatives, she hopes it inspires the next generation.  

“I really hope that by me being out here and pushing for this, further down the line, students find it within themselves to not only accept themselves but continue the ripple effect of inspiring others,” Montes said.